Marlborough Mound: 'Merlin's burial place' built in 2400 BC

BBC ^ | May 31, 2011 | Unknown

[Unam Sanctam]

I wonder if the place name “Marlborough” has anything to do with Merlin.

[SunkenCiv]

In what way?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

It seems that a lot of monuments which have been associated with the semi-mythological Arthurian Romances and/or with the Celtic Druids actually were constructed by folks who were around during the Middle and Late Stone Ages, thousands of years prior to the first Celt or Druid on the island. This includes even the famous Stonehenge, which may have been used by the Celts, but far preceded them.

[SunkenCiv]

At least one guy has written that the Arthurian tales antedate the Roman occupation of Britain, and continued in the storytelling tradition throughout Roman times in a very similar form to later times. Instead of a returning king driving out the Romans, Arthur became a returning king driving out the Saxons.

I’ve seen the suggestion that the name Arthur is a macaronic one, meaning “the bear” — Arth (in Welsh) and Ursa (in Latin). Basically, I don’t think any actual guy named Arthur actually did all the things attributed to him (there’s a site in Scotland called “Arthur’s Seat”, for example). I don’t have any problem with the existence of someone during the time after Rome left having been a great war leader who opposed the Saxons doing some of those things, while the rest of the stuff wound up attached to his real (or imagined) name.

Apparently after Rome left, some political entity with a large territory constructed an earthen barrier to keep out the Saxons; they didn’t build it, because they were so amazed by it they called it “Woden’s Dyke” or the Wansdyke. It stretches at least as far as the Roman wall in the north, and must have involved considerable political power.

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/wansdyke/index
http://www.google.com/search?q=wansdyke+site:freerepublic.com

In the 1960s sites around Glastonbury were excavated, and Byzantine pottery and other artifacts were found, indicating economic activity which included trade with the Med. Similar finds were made in the 1980s and ‘90s at Tintagel in Cornwall, which is attached to the Arthurian legends. The dig there came about because, after more than a century of denial that there was ever any “Dark Ages” activity at the site, a grass fire broke out, and it must have been some fire, because by itself it uncovered the remains of about 200 buildings. :’)

The books about it in just the last forty years have been numerous, far beyond my interest in it. The one that has a lot going for it that I *have* read is this one:

http://www.grahamphillips.net/books/arthur.htm

[SunkenCiv]

Medieval records show that the Wansdyke barrier (perhaps differing in construction) stretched all the way to the Severn River, I wonder if it’s been traced using Google Earth or something along those lines? Britain has so many layers and a continuous occupation (and it isn’t a desert) it’s probably hard to determine.

Wansdyke, a dyke running from Bath to Marlborough
http://www.legendofkingarthur.co.uk/southern-england/wansdyke.htm

http://www.wansdyke21.org.uk/wansdyke/wanmaps/wanmaps.htm

Wat’s Dyke is a different barrier; it was built centuries before Offa’s Dyke (Offa was the king of Mercia) and may have inspired it. There’s also a bunch of other barriers.

All of these show enough evidence of past fortification that they were used for defense after some fashion, but since they don’t close as a ring, one wonders what good they were. One suggestion I read years ago is that they were constructed by groups used to fighting from horseback, which is interesting, because the Sarmatians (relatives to the Scythians) after their defeat by Rome, were deployed as auxiliary cavalry, guess where? :’) The wall would be suitable for defense against direct attack and shield the cavalry on one flank or from the rear, while mobility would maximumize options for offense.

Apparently it wasn’t enough though.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

As I remember it Offa’s Dyke was a barrier between the retreating Britons and the advancing Anglo-Saxons. The British side included what became Wales and Cornwall and the Western part of northern Britain, as well as the area East of Wales and Cornwall.

[Unam Sanctam]

I’m just wondering about the origin of the place name “Marlborough”. “Borough” is of course Anglo-Saxon, usually meaning walled city, so the question is what is the derivation of “Marl-”, and is it related to “Merlin”? It does seem rather coincidental if there is a mound/tomb that may have been attributed to Merlin, and town’s name is “Borough of Marl.” Marl- probably has nothing to do with Merlin — I am just making some wild speculating here without having researched it. I suppose the etymology could be looked up somewhere.

[SunkenCiv]

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